Search form

Search form

GPS systems will play a key role in the next generation of air traffic control systems, which are expected to be implemented by 2022. The new systems are designed to improve efficiency and reduce fatalities, but a scramble is on to ensure the reliability of GPS, given the possibility of interference caused by LightSquared's expansion of its wireless broadband service. GPS interference could spell disaster for airlines, and new technology to block interference is still being developed.

Related Summaries

Choosing the right location is essential for expanding a retail business, but business leaders can't simplify the decision with a single data point, according to Robert Buckner of Intalytics and Sonny Beech of GIS. Factors such as competition and distance from target customers affect the performance of a retailer's location. Location data isn't a magic bullet; it should add to a leader's decision-making process rather than replacing it, Buckner said.

Drought alone is not responsible for the famine in Africa, writes William G. Moseley, a professor of geography and African studies at Macalester College. Rather, a number of factors are to blame, including the constriction of herders' routes through countryside, the sale of land to foreign countries and the reliance on cash crops. To address the problem, the world community should encourage traditional practices that are more adaptable to weather conditions, he wrote.

Problematic zoning regulations and inexperienced officials have contributed to sprawl in New Jersey that has prevented lower-income citizens from being able to afford houses near their jobs, according to a study co-authored by John Hasse, a Rowan University professor of geography. The population has risen only 14% since pre-1986 levels, but the percentage of developments that are residential has increased by 26.8%, according to the report. "In two to three decades, there will be no private land left that's developable. We'll be the first state to run out of land," Hasse said.

Increasing sea levels in the Nunavut territory of Canada are changing the coastline and threatening to restrict travel in the area, researchers have found. The sea level is expected to increase by as much as 80 centimeters near Iqaluit by 2010, said Natural Resources Canada geographer Donald Forbes. Ice has piled up on beaches in one area, and rising sandbars are creating hazards for sea travel in the Hudson Bay, he noted.

Markets to trade in water rights are likely to develop as water-scarcity issues increase in the coming decades as a result of population increases and climate change. Supporters see regional systems developing with an emphasis on waste-water trading to help ensure higher treatment standards and more efficient use of existing water supply.